James is born in Kenia and the more settled he got in Germany, the more he looked for opportunities to supporting families in his home country. His family had the possibility to donate some land in Muranga and with the help of our very experienced founder Ms Karin Wellenkötter, an idea was born to build Gracewill and Friends Community Homes as a charitable NGO hat serves destitute children from vulnerable backgrounds in remote rural areas of Muranga and its environs offering care and protection within a community setting by liaising with the local community leaders and business owners, Schools, Churches, family direct visits, and other key external partners. The targeted groups mostly are Orphans, mostly at risk of dropping out of school, ending up in the streets with addiction or other deviant behaviors as well as those mistreated or abandoned by their parents or other relatives and children from dysfunctional families.

St. Martin “Lantern, Lantern, Sun, Moon and Stars” – that's how it sounded on Wednesday evening in the courtyard of the IMS for all kindergarten children and for all younger school children. Mr. Delport opened the traditional festival with a few words and briefly explained the story of St. Martin. With joy and singing, all children and parents made their way to the Wannsee. The lanterns glowed among all the people, young and old, creating a magical atmosphere. After sharing many St. Martin's croissants, the procession made its way back through the streets to the schoolyard, where some parents were waiting with punch. The festival will remain a happy memory for many children, and we would like to thank all those who helped to make it a success.

Our school's invention fair was a great success! Students in grades 4-6 explored famous inventors and inventions as part of our first fall semester unit. They then designed their own inventions to address global challenges. Each student created a prototype and a bilingual English German poster explaining their invention. Parents and younger students from grades 1-3 joined us on October 18th in the Tourmaline and Aquamarine classrooms to see the creative solutions firsthand. We had a fantastic turnout, and the students proudly presented their projects with enthusiasm.

Dear children and guests, we will sing a song in a moment, the chorus of which says: We want to get up, approach each other, learn from each other, and interact with each other. Get up, approach each other and not walk away when we don't understand something. I wish you all the same for the next four years at our school. Get up happily every morning, make new friends, learn together, even if you argue, make up and look for solutions.

The Villa Luna daycare centre also works bilingually according to the immersion principle. Our cooperation partner visited the IMS.